Pump construction



Sept. 25, 1956 e. s. PERKINS PUMP CONSTRUCTION Filed Jan. 4, 1956 5/, 1 3 1 3 2 M E G E H F B n 1 g 4 2 u w B B I, I I-I -A.I-IAl-I-/I/fiI-I-I- II I Q I zj RS y On e T..' n w r V 0 Ne L [P t S e g r 0V. WE 22 0 1 1 fi rz Aw A9 1 Mt; 3 ll ll .l G I II F l II ,i HH H w, 1'

United States Patent 2,764,322 PUMP CONSTRUCTION George S. Perkins, New York, N. Y., assignor to National Equipment Corporation, New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application January 4, 1956, Serial No. 557,337

Claims. (Cl. 222-255) This invention relates to pump construction, and more particularly to pumps especially adapted for use in confectionery-making apparatus and similar machines. An example of the type of pump to which the invention relates will be found in my Patent No. 2,510,317, dated June 6, 1950, and also in my co-pending application Serial No. 516,076, filed June 17, 1955. Pumps of this character are usually employed for the purpose of dispensing candy material or other liquid, semi-liquid or viscous substances from a hopper into molds, which molds are often formed in starch contained in trays that are moved into position below the pump.

One of the objects of the present invention is to provide a pump of this character which will greatly increase the output of a candy-making machine by enabling an increased number of mold depressions to be formed in each tray and to simultaneously fill such increased number of depressions through the use of a novel arrangement of pump nozzles and cylinders and pistons co-operating therewith, to deposit the candy material into the depressions.

It is another object of the invention to provide a pump in which the nozzles are arranged in staggered relation to thereby enable the same to be more closely spaced than is the usual practice and thus fill closely-spaced mold depressions. It is another object of the invention to provide means by which all of the pump cylinders can be simultaneously filled or charged from a common manifold, and can be caused to have their contents ejected through passages leading through the manifold, whereby passages will be provided directly to the outlet nozzles from the cylinders.

It is another object of the invention to provide a cutolf bar operative as a material-delivery manifold,.which manifold shall be provided with separate, serpentine or zig-zag passages extending through it to serve as communications between the cylinder outlets and the supply hopper.

With these, and other objects to be hereinafter set forth in view, I have devised the arrangement of parts to be described and more particularly pointed out in the claims appended hereto.

In the accompanying drawing, wherein an illustrative embodiment of the invention is disclosed,

Fig. 1 is a vertical sectional view through a pump construction made in accordance with the invention;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of a part of the cut-off bar;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, taken substantially on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction of the arrows, and

Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional view through parts of the housing, cut-off bar and outlet nozzles, showing the parts in material-charging position.

A pump of the character herein described is particularly adapted for use in confectionery machines, wherein the goods in fluid, or nearly-fluid form, is delivered from a hopper to the pump and is ejected thereby in predetermined quantities into molds, or else can be deposited upon a suitable surface below the outlet nozzles of the pump.

2,764,322 Patented Sept. 25, 1956 In the drawing, the pump housing is shown at 1, and the same is bored to provide a plurality of adjacent cylinders 2 in each of which is mounted a reciprocatingpiston 3. The particular pistons shown are of so-called hydro sealed type, and are provided with a plurality of circumferential grooves into which a fluid, such as water, contained in the recess indicated at 6, may enter, the water acting as a sealing means.

At the top, each piston is provided with a stem 7 terminating in a head 8 engaged by an operating member 9 which is raised and lowered by a suitable known mechanism, to thereby simultaneously raise or lower all of the pistons 3 in their respective cylinders.

The lower end of each of the cylinders 2 terminates in an outlet opening 12 usually of less diameter than the diameter of the cylinders, and said outlet openings 12 are adapted at predetermined times, to register with openings 13 formed through a cut-off bar or valve member 14. The cut-off bar 14 has a plurality of spaced, serpentine or zig-zag grooves 15 constituting supply passages for all of the cylinders 2, and said cut-off bar is slidably positioned below the cylinder outlets 12 and is maintained in position thereunder by means of the lower closure plate 20 secured at the bottom of the housing 1. The cut-off bar is longitudinally slidable back and forth as indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 to a predetermined extent to either register the cylinder outlets 12 with the serpentine or zigzag grooves in the cut-off bar, or else register these outlets with the openings 13 extending vertically and completely through the cut-off bar 14. Thus, when the outlets 12 are registered with the grooves 15 in the cut-off bar, as shown in Fig. 1, communication will be established between the cylinders 2 and the supply hopper, and when the pistons rise they will draw up a charge of the candy material from these grooves and into the cylinders 2. The candy material is supplied into the grooves 15 of the cutoff bar from a hopper connected to the inlet 17 of the housing 1, and which inlet is in constant communication with the grooves through the open ends 18 of the grooves 15.

When the outlets 12 of the cylinders are registered with the openings 13 in the cut-01f bar as clearly shown in Fig. 1, communication will be established between the cylinders 2 and outlet nozzles 19 mounted in, and extending downwardly from, the housing closure plate 20. The pistons 3 are then moved downwardly and the material then contained in the cylinders 2 below the pistons, will be forced downwardly by the pistons through the openings 13 and out through the nozzles 19 and into molds or a receptive surface then positioned below the nozzles.

The cut-off bar may be made of substantial length, only a short portion of it being shown in Fig. 5. In the arrangement shown, it contains six transverse rows of openings and each longitudinal row may contain thirtysix, more or less, delivery openings 13 with a corresponding number of cylinders 2 and outlet nozzles 19 provided in the housing 1 and plate 20 respectively.

The nozzles 19 and the pump cylinders which are vertically aligned therewith, as well as the openings 13 in the pump bar, are arranged so that the nozzles and cylinders in the several rows are in staggered relation. This arrangement permits of the use of a very substantial number of deposits in a given tray area, thus resulting in greatly increased production. This staggered arrangement of the nozzles and the cylinders therefor, is possible because of the provision of the serpentine or zig-zag grooves, each of which serves as a material-supply manifold for two transverse rows of openings 13.

From the foregoing, the operation of the described apparatus will be readily understood. The material, in liquid or semi-liquid condition, enters the serpentine or zigzag grooves 15 of the cut-off bar 14 and while the cutofi bar is in the position shown in Fig. 4, with the outlet openings 12 in registration with the material-filled grooves 15, the pistons are elevated and the material will be drawn upwardly from grooves 15 into the cylinders. When .the pistons 3 reach their highest position, the cut-off bar is then shifted to disalign the serepentine grooves 15 from the outlets 12 of the cylinders and this movement brings the openings 13 in the cut-0.1T bar into registry with the outlets 12 and also in registry with the nozzles 19. The pistons 3 are then moved downwardly and they force the charges of material out of the cylinders 2, down through the openings 13., and out through the nozzles 19 into molds or onto a surface positioned below the nozzles. The means for slidably reciprocating the cut-ofi bar may be that disclosed in my Patent No. 2,510,317 or may be some other means for providing the necessary limited sliding movement of the same from charge to discharge position.

Having described a single embodiment of the invention, it is obvious that the same is not to be restricted thereto, but is broad enough to cover all structures coming within the scope of the annexed claims.

What I claim is:

1. In a pump construction, a housing provided with a plurality of cylinders arranged in rows, with the cylinders in one row in staggered relationship to those in the adjacent row, each cylinder having a bottom discharge opening, a piston mounted for reciprocating movement in each cylinder, an outlet nozzle located below each cylinder discharge opening, a slidable cut-off bar mounted in the housing between the cylinder discharge openings and the outlet nozzles, said cut-off bar having a plurality of openings extending through it, said openings being adapted, when the cut-off bar is in a predetermined position, to establish communication between the cylinder discharge openings and the outlet nozzles, the cut-ofi bar having a plurality of serpentine grooves in it, each of said serpentine grooves being adapted to establish communication between the cylinder discharge openings in a plurality of rows of cylinders and a material supply source when the cut-off bar is moved toa position wherein the cylinder discharge openings are disaligned with the openings in the said cut-ofi bar.

2. In a pump construction, a housing provided with a plurality of cylinders arranged in rows, the cylinders in one row being disposed in staggered relation to those in its adjacent row, a piston mounted for reciprocating movement in each cylinder, each cylinder having a bottom discharge opening, an outlet nozzle located below each discharge opening and spaced therefrom, a slidable cutofi bar disposed between the discharge openings and the outlet nozzles, said cut-oft bar having a plurality of openings extending through it and adapted for alignment with the discharge openings and with the nozzles when the cut-off bar is located in discharging position, said cutolT bar being provided with a plurality of serpentine grooves located between the rows of openings in said cut-olf :bar, said grooves opening upwardly and adapted to each register .With aplurality of rows of the discharge openings when the cut-off bar is moved to disalign its openings with the discharge openings, the grooves being in communication at one end with a source of material for supply to the cylinders.-

3. In a pump of the character described, a cut-oil bar having a plurality of passages extending through it, said passages being arranged in rows, with the passages in one row disposed in staggered relation to its adjacent row, and the cut-off bar having a plurality of serpentine or zigzag grooves formed in it between the rows of passages, each groove being open at at least one end for the reception of material from a supply source.

4. In a pump as provided for in claim 3, wherein the cut-off bar is adapted to register its passages with outlets from cylinders when the cut-oft" bar is moved to its limit in one direction and is adapted to register its grooves with said outlets when moved to its limit in an opposite direction, said grooves when in the latter position, each registering with two rows of such outlets.

5. In a pump, a housing containing a plurality of rows of cylinders, the cylinders in one row being arranged in staggered relation to those in the adjacent row, each of the cylinders having an outlet, a slidable cut-cit bar arranged below the outlets, said cut-ofi bar having a plurality of openings through it corresponding in number and arrangement to the outlets, the cut-off bar also having a plurality of grooves extending across it, the grooves being open at the top, with such open tops facing the outlets, the grooves being located between the rows of the openings in the cut-ofi bar, each groove being adapted to register with two rows of outlets when the cut-off bar is positioned in charging position with respect to the cylinders, the grooves being open at one end to receive charges of material from asourceof supply.

No references cited. 

